


The Black-Box

by CelestialCake



Category: Portal (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Author is not good at choosing tags, Character Death, Feels, First Post, GLaDOS wants revenge, Import, Maybe kind-of dark, One-Shot, Post-Portal 2, Revenge, You Have Been Warned, angsty-angst, pretty dark, repost
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-29
Updated: 2020-05-29
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:49:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24440863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CelestialCake/pseuds/CelestialCake
Summary: Back in Aperture, Wheatley realizes there are worse fates than being stranded in space.
Kudos: 22





	The Black-Box

White sterile walls, clean smooth floors, and no fires anywhere near. Everything was finally as _She_ wanted, everything was in place. It had taken her time to repair the damage that little moron had done. She had almost lost track of the time repairing the facility. Almost. She was certain that his battery was almost completely drained, and she didn't want that.

"Orange. Blue." She said through the intercom, "I have a special test for you."

* * *

Darkness, loneliness, isolation.

In the midst of this was a core. A dull and lifeless shell of himself. He had been on sleep mode for an uncountable amount of time - both to maintain his slowly draining battery and to avoid staying conscious and experiencing his worst nightmare.

There were no charging ports in space, nothing he could plug into, which is why it was so unusual to wake to an electric shock. "Aah!" He jolted, his blue optic bounced around the room as he gained consciousness. Wheatley may have been a moron, but even he knew this wasn't space. He looked to his sides and noticed the familiar sight of a charging port. He was filled with relief, he wasn't in space anymore, and what was better someone had connected him to a charging point.

"Oh good, you're awake." Her voice thick with sarcasm. He finally focused his optic on _Her._ The monster, the queen, the robotic tyrant that ran this facility. The feeling of relief was quickly overshadowed by the fear her mere silhouette instilled. Of course it was _Her_ , who was he expecting?

"Agh! What am I- what did you …" He paused, normally his voice was crackly or his core delayed in responding. This time, he didn't feel any of that. He felt different, a _good_ different. He didn't feel any more pain, his optic wasn't cracked, he was practically a brand new core. "This is bloody amazing! I haven't felt this brand new in years! I can see again! Well, I could see before, but now I can actually see. I mean- agh- I don't have a large crack in the middle of my screen." He took a few more glances around the tiled room, enjoying his restored vision. "Ah, I see you took my suggestion, no portable surfaces this time around, not that there are any test subjects that would rebel … are there?" He squinted his eyelids in an attempt to seem skeptical.

"She isn't here." She answered, unenthused. She coiled her body towards him, just as a snake coils towards their prey.

"Oh. Is she-?" She glared at him, all but daring him to ask. Wheatley's lower eyelid rose, his expression showing a surprising amount of worry. "Well then, why am I here? I mean, we obviously know why I'm here, you- well, you brought me here, but why exactly did you bring me here?" His voice trembled ever-so-slightly. Knowing _Her_ and everything she had done, he was almost certain - no he _was_ certain - it wasn't something good.

GLaDOS let out a synthesized sigh, " You know, if there's one thing that mute lunatic taught me, it was mercy. I thought the best way to punish you was to torture you, leave you in a chamber where robots screamed at you for ten years." She recoiled, "I thought that was what I wanted, but I realized the best revenge was kindness, that's why I fixed you, I even gave you an update." Wheatley was skeptical but hearing the absence of sarcasm in Her voice dissipated some of the fear and doubt.

"Oh, that's brilliant. What … What exactly are you planning? You know, to do with me?" A nearby claw lowered towards Wheatley, he let out a synthesized noise that some may have considered a nervous laugh. "No, really, what are you going to do with me?"

The nearby claw opened and grabbed onto the metal shell of the sphere, it yanked itself towards the ceiling effectively ripping Wheatley away from the charging point. The claw swung so the core was directly in front of her.

"Did you really think that was true?" Her yellow optic glared at the small, insignificant core. "Either I'm a great liar or you're an utter moron … I'll take the latter."

"Warning: Aperture Science Personality Construct is low on battery, please connect to a nearby charging port or contact an Aperture Science associate for further assistance." A voice similar to the announcer chimed from Wheatley's speakers.

"Oh right, I forgot to mention, I added a black-box quick-save feature, and what's more, I specifically programmed it to save your betrayal." Her voice seemed almost pleased. "You'll be able to relive your moronic decisions … forever."

"Oh no, no, no!" Wheatley shouted, though there wasn't anything he could do. A message saying "1% battery left, please connect to a charging port." glared at him, mocking his inability to do anything. "Nonononono."

"Goodbye." She said softly. The sphere finally succumbed to his low battery, his shell once again dull and motionless. She quickly glanced at the core's once-living shell, then casually threw it down the abandoned elevator shaft. "Ohhh, the irony." She sighed.

* * *

At the bottom of the condemned shaft was the core again. Several scratches and dents appeared on his shell. A few crackling lights illuminated the inside of the core, but it was clear he wasn't awake. Heck, there was a possibility he was dead. But that didn't matter, at least not to him. Dead or alive, it was all the same, he was still experiencing the black-box feature _She_ had installed. He was now repeating every mistake, every idiotic decision for the rest of his life. In space or the condemned shaft, it didn't matter, this was his worst nightmare made even worse.

Once again there was darkness, loneliness, and isolation.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there! This is my first ever post on AO3. This is an import from FF.net, by user "CelestialCake", AKA me, MoonBrownie.
> 
> Thanks for reading this fic, I hope you enjoyed!


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